Marco Relay for Life: All-night walk moves to Mackle Park, with help from many

LANCE SHEARER

10:35 AM, Apr 10, 2014

10:43 AM, Apr 10, 2014

Fundraising chair Donna Cottrell and Keller-Williams team captain Kristina Lambros have a little fun while going over plans for the event. The 2014 Marco Island Relay for Life takes place this weekend at Mackle Park. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent

Even Donna Cottrell's fingernails are part of her Relay preparation. The 2014 Marco Island Relay for Life takes place this weekend at Mackle Park. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent

All the Keller-Williams cancer survivors and caregivers who could be rounded up at a moment's notice on Wednesday. From left, Cindy Griesse, Pat Wilkins, Donna Cottrell Laurene Chaffee.The 2014 Marco Island Relay for Life takes place this weekend at Mackle Park. Lance Shearer/Eagle Correspondent

MARCO ISLAND - Cancer is both personal and universal. It attacks people one by one, disrupting the normal functioning of the body, but also unites people through their shared response. Everyone, it seems, has been touched by this deadly disease, has a loved one or family member fighting or lost to cancer, or is dealing with it in their own life.

To end the scourge of cancer, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life shows how people working together can “finish the fight,” as the organization’s T-shirts proclaim. Marco Island’s Relay for Life takes place this Saturday through Sunday morning at Mackle Park, and for Donna Cottrell, it couldn’t be more personal.

Cottrell, who works as office manager in the Marco branch of Keller Williams Realty, is fundraising chair for the Marco Island Relay for Life. She just lost her brother-in-law, Earle Tate of Cape Coral, to cancer a week ago on Monday, just three weeks after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She herself is a survivor, still here after contracting Hodgkin’s disease 33 years ago.

Cottrell and her sister, now Earle’s widow, started the Cape Coral Relay for Life in 2002. Earle Tate was honored at the Cape Coral Relay when the event was held last weekend, with Donna Cottrell in attendance.

The Keller-Williams team captain for the Marco Relay is Kristina Lambros. She has an aunt who has had a double mastectomy, and is dealing with stage three breast cancer.

“This touches everyone. You can’t find a corner that hasn’t been touched,” said Cottrell. “We have several survivors here in the office, and caregivers too. One agent has a son who had leukemia at a very early age, and is now a grown man.”

As fundraising chair, Donna Cottrell works with all 29 teams in the Marco Relay on ideas for raising money, said Lisa Honig, the ACS professional staffer in charge of coordinating the Marco effort.

While many parts of the Marco Relay for Life will be familiar from past runnings, there are significant changes to this year’s event. After moving off the beach to Marco Island Charter Middle School last year, the Relay has moved again, and will take place at Mackle Park.

“The beach was difficult for older people, and some of our survivors, to walk on. Our problem at the school was that people don’t know where it is. I even had to go out and guide our van in when they couldn’t find it,” said Honig. “On Marco, everyone knows where Mackle Park is.”

The hours have also been shortened, in deference to the older local demographic.

“They told us we could start later, when it’s not so hot, as long as we went all night,” said Honig. The Marco Relay will kick off at 4 p.m., with the survivors’ dinner at 5 p.m., and teams taking turns to walk all night, before the conclusion at 6 a.m. Sunday morning. Going from light into darkness, and then seeing the return of the light, symbolizes the ordeal of the cancer patient, and points out there is a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

There will be more young people participating this year, Honig said, with teams from Marco Island Academy, Lely High School, and Edison State College taking part. And as always, the event will feature luminaria, the candles in a bag that honor those dealing with or lost to cancer. Over 2,000 luminaria will be placed and lit, with the help of the local Girl Scouts.

Games, activities, and live music will keep the walkers entertained, and food and beverages will be available to keep them fueled during the Relay. The actual Relay for Life is the culmination of a series of fundraising events and efforts, including a gala, fashion show at Bistro Soleil, and the “Shoot Down Kids’ Cancer” skeet-shooting party at Port of the Islands. Volunteer Robyn Pritchard has crafted and sold hundreds of handmade bracelets for the cause.

The presenting sponsor for this year’s Marco Island Relay for Life is Robert Flugger. To make your own contribution, call 239-642-8800 or email Lisa.honig@cancer.org.

If you go:

What: The Relay for Life

When: 4 p.m. until 6 a.m., Saturday, April 12

Information: Sign up to participate or donate at relayforlife.org/marcoisland at Mackle Park, Marco Island